Apple MacBook Pro (2021)
Image courtesy: Apple

Today, Apple revealed the details behind the two latest MacBook Pros. The new laptops feature the new M1 Pro and M1 Max processors, which Apple calls the first pro chips designed for the Mac. Both the 14- and 16-inch models feature a Liquid Retina XDR display, along with a 1080p FaceTime HD camera and “the best audio system in a notebook,” if Apple’s claims are true. Despite the high-end feature set, Apple promises “industry-leading power efficiency and extraordinary battery life.” The new models join the existing 13-inch MacBook Pro, which features the M1 processor.

“We set out to create the world’s best pro notebook, and today we’re excited to introduce the all-new MacBook Pro with M1 Pro and M1 Max — a game-changing combination of phenomenal performance, unrivaled battery life, and groundbreaking features,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. The new MacBook Pro models target developers, photographers, filmmakers, 3D artists, scientists, music producers.

Apple MacBook Pro (2021) in use
Image courtesy: Apple

Upgrading the M1: M1 Pro and M1 Max

The new M1 Pro and M1 Max chips build on the original M1 architecture. The M1 Pro features an up-to-10-core CPU and an up-to-16-core GPU, promising up to 70 percent faster CPU performance and two times the GPU performance of the M1. In addition to its 200GB/s of memory bandwidth and support for up to 32GB of fast unified memory, the M1 Pro also adds a ProRes accelerator in the media engine, which Apple says delivers “unbelievably fast and power-efficient video processing.”

Like the M1 Pro, the M1 Max features a 10-core CPU. However, it upgrades to a 32-core GPU, up to 400GB/s of memory bandwidth and up to 64GB of fast unified memory. All of this leads Apple to call the M1 Max “the world’s most powerful chip for a pro notebook.” The M1 Max also offers two ProRes accelerators, supporting up to 30 streams of 4K ProRes video or up to seven streams of 8K ProRes video in Final Cut Pro. Apple adds that, “for the first time on any Mac, video editors can grade color in HDR on 8K ProRes 4444 video on battery when they’re miles away from the edit bay.”

You can read more about the M1 Pro and the M1 Max here.

Apple M1 Pro
Apple’s M1 Pro processors featured in the MacBook Pro. Image courtesy: Apple

Pricing and availability

The new Apple MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max are available to order on apple.com/store and in the Apple Store app. They will begin shipping by Tuesday, October 26.

The new 14-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $1,999, while the 16-inch MacBook Pro model starts at $2,499. Find additional information at apple.com/mac.